A Simple Pre-game Putting Drill For Amateur Golfers

One problem I see frequently with a lot of amateur golfers is their lack of effective putting practice before a round of golf. They often make the same putting mistakes over the opening 6 holes of a round. Mistakes such as the following:

The amateur putts the ball well short of the hole The amateur putts the ball in a direction they had not intended (i.e. without accuracy) The amateur putts the ball past the hole

For all amateurs, the value of spending some time on the practice green can pay huge dividends by saving you shots over the first six holes. Here is a five minute drill to be performed before a round of golf that will help you zone in on your putting alignment and gauge the speed of the greens.

Alignment

Line up for a long put using whatever preferred technique you regularly use. Place a short iron against the toes of your shoes then step away from the club and look down its line. Is it the line you had intended in your setup? This line is going to show the starting trajectory of your putts so you want to have this as accurate as possible. If the line is off then maybe your technique for lining up shots is a little off. Try picking a point closer to the ball instead of closer to the hole to start lining up your shot.

Distances

With any practice drill for putting distance you want to focus on getting a feel for the greens speed over short, medium and long distances.

Begin with a long putt. Try to make 8 to 12 of these putts and focus on making the distance the ball travels as close as possible to the correct length to establish long green speed.

Next choose a medium length putt around the 10 foot distance and preferably a distance which you experience often. Again, take up to 10 practice putts and try to get to within a meter of the hole. Being accurate is important with this drill so you wish to have some putts going in.

Finally, do some short putts within 1 to 2 meters of the hole. This is done last so that you get a confidence boost from a high number of putts successfully going in the hole.

Using these simple drills helps to fine-tune your putting accuracy and distance control before you head to the first tee and allows you to leave your mistakes on the practice green, rather than the course.